Gujarat in list of top 15 prosperous states globally

Study by London-based institute ranks state much higher than the country as a whole.

With the state climbing up on the social capital index ladder and that too just ahead of the assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Gujarat unit has enough reasons to look smug. While India ranks 138th globally in the social capital sub-index, Gujarat ranks among the top 20 states among 142 nations worldwide and also pips several developed nations in the race to claim one of the most prosperous state title.

Gujarat has been ranked 15th globally in the index by Legatum institute, a prominent independent non-partisan public policy organisation in London. Another state in India, Uttarakhand got the 18th rank in the report prepared by the institute on prosperity index based on its research and assessment of global prosperity on both material wealth and personal wellbeing. The institute explores the foundations of prosperity through the lens of politics, economics, culture and philosophy.

“Within India, the states of Gujarat and Uttarakhand have the highest social capital scores and would rank 15th and 18th, globally, in this sub-index, next to Germany and Belgium, respectively. In the state of Gujarat, 77% of respondents can rely on friends and family for help and 51% have donated money to charity,” stated ‘the 2012 Global Prosperity Index’ released by the institute.

In a release issued by the BJP on Friday, the saffron party said: “Party’s president RC Faldu has congratulated Modi for endorsement of development done in the state by the institute.”